Berhampur: After the southern states, Odisha will introduce ‘water bells’ in schools to ensure that children drink adequate quantity of water, District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said Sunday. All the schools in Ganjam district have been instructed to ring three ‘water bells’ from Monday to remind children of drinking water, she said.
“We have decided to introduce water bells in all the schools in the district, including government, private and Anganwadi ones, November 25 onwards. Necessary instruction has been issued to school authorities,” Kulange informed.
The collector said the initiative aims at making drinking of water a habit among children to ensure that they stay hydrated.
The initiative was first started in Kerala and replicated in Karnataka and Telangana while Andhra Pradesh is mooting to implement it across the state.
Ganjam district education officer (DEO) Sanatan Panda said the water bells will be rung at 11.40 am, 1.30 pm and 3.15 pm from Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, the bells would be rung at 8.00am, 9.30am and 10.50am. Each break will last for five minutes and it will be compulsory for every student to drink water during that period, informed Panda.
“Most of the children carry water bottles to the schools. Those who do not have bottles can drink water from the institutes’ facilities,” Panda stated.
The DEO said the collector is mooting to provide the children with water bottles that are not made of single-use plastic, under the ‘Mo School’ (My school) initiative. However, that may take some time, he said.
Panda reiterated that despite repeated reminders by the teachers, it was found that students, especially girls, were not drinking adequate quantity of water to avoid frequent visits to the toilets.
PNN & Agencies